Cover
Yourself
by: Penny
C. Sansevieri
One of your biggest sales tools is
your books cover. Did you know that if someone sees your
book on the shelf, you have less than thirty seconds to
sell it? Remember too that your book cover will not only
be on your book, but it will more than likely grace most
or all of your marketing materials as well and a heavily
funded PR campaign can not make up for a poorly designed
book cover.
If you’re stumped for cover ideas, try spending an afternoon
perusing your genre of books in a bookstore and decide what
works and what does not. Then have a cover designed that
fits your audience. Also, remember when titling your book
it’s all about the “WIIFM” factor, or “what’s in it for
me.” Your audience will want to know why they should buy
your book instead of someone else’s and I find more often
than not that authors designing their cover often want to
incorporate symbols or hidden messages. This is usually
a very bad idea mostly because the only person who will
get it is the author. You don’t want a cover you have to
explain to your audience unless you plan on hand-selling
every copy of your book. In fact, you want a cover that’s
so self-explanatory even someone who isn’t your reader will
get it. That’s why I suggest that while the author should
offer suggestions to the cover designer, they should never
be the one to do the final design. Why? Because honestly
you want someone who’s never read your book to design the
cover. Why? Well, your reader won’t read the book before
they buy it so as I indicated earlier, the cover needs to
explain itself.
My graphic designer, Leeza Hernandez-Stetzler of ConkerTree
Design has done several marketing pieces for me as well
as assisting me with several cover designs. Leeza says:
“Think about color and shade; rich golds work well with
saturated blues, Deep green and ivory have a very sophisticated
business-like feel and navy works well with ivory also.
Purples and mid-tone blues have a more spiritual or meditative
tone while sage green is calming and so is lavender; rustic
earth tones give a feeling of warmth and comfort. Soft pinks
and pastels are good for romance or softer type subjects,
whereas hot pinks and deep purples have a bit more spice.
Grays tend to be more subdued, sometimes bordering on depressive.
Black has a more serious association which is good when
used in books that offer information and business, like
'how-to's advice.” She does caution, however, to use the
boldness of bright red with care because too much of it
and the effect will be lost. A touch of red, however, tailored
with black and white makes a very powerful statement. Just
make sure your book has the content to back it up. When
it comes to red, Leeza says, “Think 'Schindlers List,' where
the entire movie is filmed in black and white except that
one scene where the little girl runs across the screen and
she is dressed in red. How powerful was that? Would you
remember the scene if she was dressed in blue, or if the
movie was color, probably not.”
Here are some cover tips to help you create an outstanding
cover for your book!
Front cover
· Contrast is important. Draw attention to your book by
using a lighter background with darker color type or vice
versa. Also, avoid choosing a color for your title that
merges into the background.
· Make sure that the title and subtitle are in different
fonts to draw a distinction between the two.
· Don’t use all caps; it can give a very angry impression.
Instead, use both upper and lower-case letters.
· As a rule of thumb, the title should be visible from about
12 feet away, which means letters no smaller than 24 pt
(1/3 inch) and preferably 36 pt (½ inch).
Back cover
· The back cover should list the benefits of the book. Promise
health, wealth, entertainment or a better life. Make it
catchy and thought provoking. Again, visiting a bookstore
will help you decide what draws you to a book and what’s
a real turn off.
· If you’re fortunate enough to have garnered preproduction
blurbs or endorsements from reviewers or specialists in
your topic, don’t overuse them. I know you’re thrilled to
have so many people praising your book, but don’t fill your
back cover with every single one you’ve ever gotten. Use
the most significant one on the cover, put one or two on
the back and if you have more, use the first few pages of
your book.
· The blurb about yourself should be no more than three
sentences. I know, I know, you have so much to say, so much
talent and so many other books waiting in the wings. But
try to limit this; trust me, they may love your book, but
they really don’t want to hear all about you.
Spine
· Make sure that your name and the title of the book are
prominent and easy to read.
· Don’t use a complicated font. Keep it simple and easy
to read.
About the author:
Penny C. Sansevieri
The Cliffhanger was published in June of 2000. After a strategic
marketing campaign it quickly climbed
the ranks at Amazon.com to the ##1 best selling book in
San Diego. Her most recent book: From Book to Bestseller
was released in 2005 to rave reviews and is being called
the “roadmap to publishing success.” Penny is a book marketing
and media relations specialist. She also coaches authors
on projects, manuscripts and marketing plans and instructs
a variety of coursing on publishing and promotion. To learn
more about her books or her promotional services, you can
visit her web site at www.amarketingexpert.comTo
subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@booksbypen.com
Copyright ã 2005 Penny C. Sansevieri
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